24th Guadalajara Film Festival

The 24th International Festival of Cinema in Guadalajara. This annual festival began in 1986 as the Mexican Cinema Showcase, an event that offered a panorama of the nation’s annual production. The current “International Festival of Cinema in Guadalajara” continues this showcase of Mexican annual production, and a FIPRESCI prize is awarded to the best Mexican fiction feature in competition. In addition, there are competitions of Mexican documentary features and short films.

But the Guadalajara Festival is now much more than a showcase for Mexican Cinema, for it has become one of the very best festivals in the world in which to follow trends in recent Ibero-American Cinema. The Ibero-Aerican designation as used by the festival refers to Portugal, Spain, and the countries of Latin America. This year’s edition of the festival offers a competitive selection of 15 Ibero-American fiction features, the best of which will win a FIPRESCI prize. In addition, there are competitive selections of Ibero-American documentary features and Ibero-American short films. An “Out of Competition” category presents an overview of recent significant Ibero-American fiction features not in competition.

This year’s edition of the festival offers many special non competitive events, some of which present films from countries other than Ibero-America. For serious film critics, one of the most interesting of these selections is “Alternate Currents”, which offers a showcase of unusual features from around the world. Other special presentations include panoramas of Cuban cinema (celebrating the Cuban Film Institute’s 50th anniversary) and of recent Colombian cinema. (Dennis West)